Canadian women's soccer team in good shape after win over Australia

The Olympic flame isn’t due to be lit until Friday in Rio de Janeiro, but the Canadian women's soccer team had their own fire going early Wednesday -- as in 21 seconds into their first action in Brazil, and a 2-0 win over Australia to open their Olympic tournament and put them in the driver’s seat for advancing out of this preliminary round.

Janine Beckie’s lightning bolt off a deft Christine Sinclair feed was the fastest goal in Olympic soccer history, an appropriate jump start to what turned into a frantic opener in Sao Paulo against world No. 5 Australia.

Just 20 minutes in, Canada was reduced to 10 women with the red-card ejection of central defender Shelina Zadorsky, cuing a white-knuckled ride the rest of the way that included a couple of standout performances: one expected, the other perhaps not.

The expected came from talisman Sinclair, who fed Beckie for the opening goal and then clinched the outcome with her 163rd career goal 10 minutes from full time.

And while it was goalkeeping that figured to be a sore spot for this Canada team given veteran Erin McLeod’s absence due to injury, Stephanie Labbé deputized and then some, making 12 stops, a number of them difficult.

In between all that, Beckie had a chance stopped on a 73rd-minute penalty kick that let referee Stephanie Frappart off the hook after she awarded the penalty for an Aussie handball that looked like a dubious decision.

The drama itself was not a surprise, though. With No. 2-ranked Germany and lightly regarded Zimbabwe in their group for the 12-team tournament, getting a result was essential for both teams. Canada faces Zimbabwe on Saturday in Sao Paulo, and a win there would put them in strong position for a quarter-final berth ahead of their group finale against the Germans, Tuesday in Brasilia.